Exhibition highlights fraternity

Exhibition by Dorking Friends charts lasting connection of conscientious objector with French towns

Dorking Friends chose Heritage Open Weekend to launch an exhibition charting the lasting connection between a conscientious objector and a handful of French towns.

‘Thank you BIM’ was the sequel to an exhibition held in Heritage Open Weekend 2014. Last year’s exhibition told the story of the young Bernard Ireland Macalpine (BIM) and his work with the Friends War Victims’ Relief Committee (FWVRC) in France’s Marne and Meuse regions during the first world war. This year’s exhibition was an account of a visit made by three Dorking Friends to the towns and villages featured in BIM’s diaries, letters and photographs.

Su Johnston and Keith and Frances Poulton travelled to France in March and have spent the months since working on the exhibition, which they hope to take to local schools. They met with local people and regional archivists, all of whom were delighted to share their own family memories and to discuss the impact of the FWVRC’s work on their region, which was left devastated.

Asked why this was an important story to tell, Su said: ‘We wanted to know the lasting outcomes of nonmilitary intervention and of whether kindness and generosity last within family memories, and municipally. And they do, we found.’

A more detailed account of Su, Keith and Frances’ experiences in France will appear in the Friend at a later date.

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